Locating Elements

For many Selenium commands, a target is required. This target identifies an element in the content of the web application, and consists of the location strategy followed by the location in the format locatorType=location. The locator type can be omitted in many cases. The various locator types are explained below with examples for each.

Locating by Identifier

This is probably the most common method of locating elements and is the catch-all default when no recognized locator type is used. With this strategy, the first element with the id attribute value matching the location will be used. If no element has a matching id attribute, then the first element with a name attribute matching the location will be used.

For instance, your page source could have id and name attributes as follows:

The following locator strategies would return the elements from the HTML snippet above indicated by line number:

• identifier=loginForm(3)
• identifier=password(5)
• identifier=continue(6)
• continue(6)

Since the identifier type of locator is the default, the identifier= in the first three examples above is not necessary.

Locating by Id

This type of locator is more limited than the identifier locator type, but also more explicit. Use this when you know an element’s id attribute.

• id=loginForm(3)

Locating by Name

The name locator type will locate the first element with a matching name attribute. If multiple elements have the same value for a name attribute, then you can use filters to further refine your location strategy. The default filter type is value (matching the value attribute).

• name=username (4)
• name=continue value=Clear (7)
• name=continue Clear (7)
• name=continue type=button (7)

Unlike some types of XPath and DOM locators, the three types of locators above allow Selenium to test a UI element independent of its location on the page. So if the page structure and organization is altered, the test will still pass. You may or may not want to also test whether the page structure changes. In the case where web designers frequently alter the page, but its functionality must be regression tested, testing via id and name attributes, or really via any HTML property, becomes very important.

Locating by XPath

XPath is the language used for locating nodes in an XML document. As HTML can be an implementation of XML (XHTML), Selenium users can leverage this powerful language to target elements in their web applications. XPath extends beyond (as well as supporting) the simple methods of locating by id or name attributes, and opens up all sorts of new possibilities such as locating the third checkbox on the page.

One of the main reasons for using XPath is when you don’t have a suitable id or name attribute for the element you wish to locate. You can use XPath to either locate the element in absolute terms (not advised), or relative to an element that does have an id or name attribute. XPath locators can also be used to specify elements via attributes other than id and name.

Absolute XPaths contain the location of all elements from the root (html) and as a result are likely to fail with only the slightest adjustment to the application. By finding a nearby element with an id or name attribute (ideally a parent element) you can locate your target element based on the relationship. This is much less likely to change and can make your tests more robust.

Since only xpath locators start with "//", it is not necessary to include the xpath= label when specifying an XPath locator.

• xpath=/html/body/form[1] (3) - Absolute path (would break if the HTML was changed only slightly)
• //form[1] (3) - First form element in the HTML
• xpath=//form[@id='loginForm'] (3) - The form element with attribute named ‘id’ and the value ‘loginForm’
• xpath=//form[input/@name='username'] (3) - First form element with an input child element with attribute named ‘name’ and the value ‘username’
• //input[@name='username'] (4) - First input element with attribute named ‘name’ and the value ‘username’
• //form[@id='loginForm']/input[1] (4) - First input child element of the form element with attribute named ‘id’ and the value ‘loginForm’
• //input[@name='continue'][@type='button'] (7) - Input with attribute named ‘name’ and the value ‘continue’ and attribute named ‘type’ and the value ‘button’
• //form[@id='loginForm']/input[4] (7) - Fourth input child element of the form element with attribute named ‘id’ and value ‘loginForm’

You can copy an XPath using the browser’s devtools:

Locating Hyperlinks by Link Text

This is a simple method of locating a hyperlink in your web page by using the text of the link. If two links with the same text are present, then the first match will be used.

• link=Continue(4)
• link=Cancel(5)

Locating by CSS

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language for describing the rendering of HTML and XML documents. CSS uses Selectors for binding style properties to elements in the document. These Selectors can be used by Selenium as another locating strategy.

• css=form#loginForm(3)
• css=input[name="username"](4)
• css=input.required[type="text"](4)
• css=input.passfield(5)
• css=#loginForm input[type="button"](7)
• css=#loginForm input:nth-child(2)(5)

Most experienced Selenium users recommend CSS as their locating strategy of choice as it’s considerably faster than XPath and can find the most complicated objects in an intrinsic HTML document.